Golden girl Phoebe Paterson Pine didn’t expect to net Tokyo spot
Shropshire Paralympic archer Phoebe Paterson Pine is still coming to terms with her gold medal success in Tokyo after admitting she did not even expect to get a spot in the GB team.
The Telford resident produced a stunning performance to claim victory in the women’s Individual Compound event at the Yumenoshima Final Field.
The 23-year-old defeated team-mate and friend Jess Stretton by one point on her way to claiming the title.
She also saw off France’s Julie Chupin and Italian Maria Andrea Virgilio before defeating Chile’s Mariana Zuniga Varela in the final.
Paterson Pine, who has spina bifida, said: “I didn’t even expect to get a spot, I worked so hard to do it but having the mental health problems that I do, I didn’t expect to do it and wasn’t particularly supportive of myself.
“It’s always hard coming up against a team-mate. Jess is such an amazing archer and is such a lovely person as well so we were so equally matched it could’ve gone either way.”
Stretton, 21, was the defending champion and Paterson Pine, having been unable to console her friend after their encounter, admits she was determined to go on and emulate her team-mate’s Rio triumph.
“It was a horrible feeling to get back after, I had to go on to another match and seeing how upset she (Stretton) was I wanted to go and support her and not being able to was so difficult, but I had to park my emotions to the side and get on with the task in hand and almost think ‘If I’m going to go on and do this I’m going to do it, I’m not going to go out in the next round I’m going to try my hardest to go all the way and do the best I can’,” she said.
The gold medal winner also holds eight national records, four European records and three world records and will now be looking toward Paris 2024.
Paterson Pine, along with team-mates Jody Cundy, Stef Reid, Ali Jawad and Tom Hamer, were attending the unveiling of Virgin Media’s gold painted broadband cabinet in Stoke Mandeville, the birthplace of the Paralympics, to celebrate the achievements of all Paralympians in Tokyo.
Cabinets have been painted gold in six major UK cities, including Loughborough, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast and London.
n Virgin Media’s #WeAreHere campaign encouraged the nation to cheer on the ParalympicsGB team virtually as no fans, friends or family could travel to Japan to watch the Games in person this year and celebrate the team’s achievements.
